The experience might leave an imprint on our social and political lives for a long time after it’s behind us Writing this column the last time (The Coronavirus Outbreak Is A Crisis Of Globalization, 23 March) on the damaging effects of covid-19 on global trade, I had offered a passing remark on the likely political ramifications of the rise of this new disease: “Covid-19 is the perfect opportunity for authoritarians, and would-be authoritarians, to ratchet up surveillance on their citizens and simultaneously tighten their grip on power." Events since that writing have, alas, borne out this prediction.
The world over, both in the advanced and emerging world, incumbent governments are finding themselves reinvigorated politically in the fight